Landslides in 3 districts
Water, food, fuel crises turn serious in Rangamati
Three more bodies recovered
taking death toll to 146
Rafiqul Islam Azad from Rangamati
Three more bodies, including that of a missing army man, were recovered from beneath heaps of mud in different parts of Rangamati district yesterday. This raises the death toll to 146 so far in the three hill districts. In Rangamati alone, the number was 108. The body of the army man was recovered by Army firefighters near the Manikchharai Army Camp on the third consecutive day of the rescue operation, said Mohamamd Shahidullah, additional superintendent of Rangamati (Sadar).
The other two bodiesthose of a woman and a manwere recovered near the Rangamati Circuit House and the Bhedbhedi BADC Post office respectively.
The deceased armyman was identified as Md Azizur Rahaman.
Earlier, on Tuesday, four army personnel, including two officers, were killed in a landslide and another soldier
was reported missing. Now, the number of army personnel killed in the disaster has risen to five. Meanwhile, the Inter Service Public Relation (ISPR) said in a press release that the bodies of two army officersMaj. Mahfuzul Haque and Capt. Tanvir Salamwere laid to rest at the Banani military graveyard with military honours.
Maj. Gen. Nazim Uddin, Chief of General Staff (CGS) of the Bangladesh Army, was present at the funeral.
Fire service sources said its rescue team was still looking for bodies that could be lying buried beneath the mud pile.
The inhabitants of the affected areas are in a state of shock after losing their relatives and belongings. Many of the survivors are now facing water, food, power and fuel crises. They said their suffering would only become more acute if these shortages were not overcome soon. To ease the situation a little, the local administration and the power offices managed to bring power back to the district through wiring from Khagrachhari last night.
Our correspondent reports: The affected families said the relief materials sent by the government were not sufficient to meet their needs. The recent landslides have wreaked havoc on road communication in Rangamati. It is feared that the repairs and restoration of the roads damaged by the landslides and heavy rain would take a long time.
AKM Rafiqul Islam, superintendent engineer of the Rangamati Roads and Highway Division, said it would take at least 1015 days to repair the Chittagong-Rangamati road link. He also said that it could take around five to six months to make the Khagrachhari-Rangamati link road operational.
Locals fear that if the road communication is not restored immediately, they will remain cut off from the rest of the country.
However, AKM Rafiqul Islam said the authorities had been informed about the need to restore the roads quickly.
The Rangamati district administration, Army, police, fire service along with local people carried out the rescue operations yesterday. Didarul Alam, deputy assistant director of the Rangamati Fire Service, said there were no unattended injured persons now. Those who had suffered serious injuries had already been taken to the Sadar hospital. Some of them had also been referred to hospitals in Dhaka and Chittagong, he added.
At least 45 people injured in the landslides were admitted to the Rangamati Sadar Hospital, said Dr Mongching Marma.
The district administration has opened at least 16 shelters for the affected people. But conditions there are allegedly precarious due to want of food, water, and electricity and many of the inmates are falling ill. The affected people are crying for more relief materials for their survival and immediate rehabilitation.
